Bollywood Scales the
Great Wall of ChinaIndian films have attracted more Chinese eyeballs than anything else. They have done in a couple of years what diplomacy has been unable to do in over five decades. Hindi-Chini bhai bhai is being said over films and peppy numbers Narendra Kaushik

Kunming:
When Eric Su (32) croons "Chaali aa thou chaali aa"
from Aradhana with what you call, to borrow a term from John
Keats' Ode to Nightingale, full-throated-ease, his singing
evokes fun. He is quite aware that this is one of the best songs from
Hindi cinema. Su knows more than many Indians about Bollywood. He has
watched Lagaan, Ghajini, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge,
Chandni Chowk to China, Don, Robot, Slumdog Millionaire,
3 Idiots, My Name is Khan and several other Hindi movies
 of course with English sub-titles  on the internet and in
cinema halls.

Slumdog
Millionaire and 3
Idiots were among the 22 films, Chinese cinema can import from
outside every year. 3 Idiots was dubbed in Chinese and struck a
chord with stressed-out Chinese university students with its promotion
of innovations against rote learning in studies. Su is surprised when
you tell him that you have not watched Slumdog Millionaire. He
cannot pronounce Freida Pinto's name but finds her "dusky"
sexuality searing. Su also liked the performance of Irrfan Khan, the
actor with "big eyes". Su cannot phonate Lagaan but
loved and remembers till date every twist of the epic cricket contest
between British and Indian peasants led by "Amir Kan" took
during the over three-hour-long drama. He cannot comprehend difference
between "Kan" and Rajni "Kant," but loved the
antics of South Indian superstar opposite Abhishek's wife Aishwarya in
Robot. His favourites among Indian actors are Shahrukh Khan and
Aamir Khan. He finds Aishwarya "incredibly beautiful but a little
dark by Chinese standards." The Chinese, like Indians, appear to
be enamoured with white skin.

Su, a professional in a
South Asia-based think tank in Shanghai, the second largest city of
China, is an unabashed admirer of Bollywood. He is not alone. There
are many among the around 1.35 billion Chinese who like the song-
and-dance routine of Indian cinema. They may not be bothered so much
about the political turn of events in their South and West but every
minor and major happening in Bollywood interests them. This gets
reflected in the Chinese media.

Eric Su croons Hindi songs

A dancer in the Kunming Forest

Scott Liu is a Bollywood buff

CCTV News, a
24-hour-news channel (a rarity in China) of China Central Television,
which mainly caters to international Chinese and the miniscule
English-speaking population of China, makes no mention of India for
several days till Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra (80) passes away.
The Chinese female news anchor of the CCTV News devotes a few minutes
of her bulletin to the King of Romance, talking about the filmmaker's
lifespan, films and awards even as the channel screens clips from his
various films, including the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. China Central Television gets its dose of
Bollywood content from India's Eros International.

It would not be an
exaggeration to say that in last few years the Indian films have
attracted more Chinese eyeballs than anything else. They have done in
a couple of years what the Indian and Chinese diplomacy has failed to
do in over five decades. It started with Slumdog Millionaire in
March 2009. Though Danny Boyle's eight Oscar winner film was a
Hollywood production, it told the story of a Mumbai street kid who
finds himself one question away from winning the Indian version of Who
Wants To Be A Millionaire. Its cast ensemble included Pinto,
Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor and Dev Patel. Karan Johar's My Name is
Khan built on the foundation laid by Slumdog Millionaire. Earlier
this year when China Film Group's third release 3 Idiots raked
in Rs 11 crore at the Chinese box office within two weeks of its
release, Bollywood announced its transition from video-sharing
websites like Douban and pirated DVD market to the big screen.

For the first time, a
big Chinese star Tang Wei dubbed for the female lead of 3 Idiots i.e.
Kareena Kapoor. 3 Idiots might give a leg up to Gold Struck,
the first Indo-Chinese joint venture announced in 2010 in the wake
of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India. The film was expected
to dispel prevalent stereotypes about the Indians and the Chinese in a
humourous way but has seen no forward movement after its announcement.
Eros International, which was supposed to have partnered Hong Su-based
Light House Productions in distributing the film globally, seems to
have put it in the cold storage. "I've never heard about it. Even
our overseas managers do not remember anything about it," says
Shalin Nair, Manager-PR with Eros, when he was asked about the status
of the movie. Even a senior of Nair, Amita Naidu, had difficulty in
remembering the name of the film. The film has obviously lived up to
its last name and is struck.

Fortunately, Gold
Struck has had no impact on collaboration between Chinese and
Indian film makers on international scene. A proof of this is the
canning of Life of Pi, a film adapted from Yann Martel's booker
winner, where Ang Lee, an Oscar-winning film maker of Chinese origin,
has directed Indian actors Irrfan Khan and Tabbu. Lee visited several
temples and zoos in South India which find mention in Pi's journey
before he shot the film.

This writer came across
many in Kunming, the eternal spring city of Southern China in Yunnan
province, who have seen Indian films, like to hum their romantic songs
and dance on them. Luo Zhisipa, a "full-time English
speaking" tourist guide at stone forest of Kunming even has
several Shahrukh Khan songs on his mobile. "I am a big fan of
Indian film songs," Zhisipa, who has adopted English name Scott
for foreigners, says, playing one of the songs from Kabhie Khushi
Kabhie Gham.

Chinese dance troupes
which perform outside the stone forest, UNESCO-recognised heritage
site near Kunming, and in motor boats in the big lake in the city love
shaking legs to the beat of Hindi cinema. Their motley dresses and
dance movements, which are a mix of Chinese, western and Indian,
regale the holiday crowds.

This looks like the
second birth of Indian cinema in China. Earlier Raj Kapoor's Awara,
Shri 420 and other movies created a major fan following in Beijing
as communist China and Soviet Union swayed to "Awara Hoon".
Huan Xiangyang, a journalist with China Daily, is a living
proof of the rediscovery of the Bollywood in China. Xiangyang (40
plus), who grew up on Raj Kapoor's movies, recently resumed watching
Hindi cinema when he saw 3 Idiots.

Music the unifier

Eric Su and Scott Liu are not the only ones in China when it comes to crooning Indian songs. You can hear people sing them outside cinema halls, in discotheques, pubs and spas and even singing competitions like Super Idol, which are contested on Chinese entertainment channels. Since 2009, Bollywood music has made a comeback. Romantic and peppy lyrics and music of Roja, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, 3 Idiots and Lagaan have captured the imagination of young China. Youth stretch their vocal chords on "Haule haule ho jayega pyaar," "All Izz Well" and "Chinna Chinna Aasai" etc. A number of Hindi songs like the title song of "Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi" have been parodied in Chinese. Hindi songs were popular in China before 1962 but after the Indo-China war, Bollywood and its songs went on a sabbatical, only to return in 2009. Salim Merchant of Salim-Sulaiman fame, whose RNBDJ songs enthrall the Chinese says,"This is a very special time. It only shows music has no boundaries," he says. One of the songs, "Tujh mein Rab dikhta hai" made it to Super Idol 13 in 2009 when one of the participants, Lao Ping, chose it to exhibit his singing talent.
Sajid of Sajid-Wajid fame, who has scored music for Son of Sardar, claims people are in Chinese pubs are dancing to his song "Pon Pon" (albeit with Chinese lyrics). " Music has no bar, no language," he says. Last year, a Chinese girl took music maestro A R Rahman by surprise when she sang "Chinna Chinna Aasai" from Mani Ratnam's Roja (Tamil). A Chinese girl Emmy Karishma has uploaded her rendition of many Hindi songs on YouTube, including "Yaara
Rab."

Enter The
Dragon, Doing the Bhangra

It all started
almost a decade back when Punjabi music travelled abroad, with
the internet fast catching up. It is hard to believe, but the
Chinese eagerly follow peppy Punjabi numbers. In 2012, Daler
Mehndi's song "Tunak tunak tun .", got 70
million hits on the internet, thanks to the Chinese! The Punjabi
pop icon is all smiles. Daler, who performed a few years back in
China during a concert, says that he was overwhelmed by how the
Punjabi numbers were so popular in the land of the dragon.
"I had heard their official language is Mandarin and only a
few per cent speak English, but when I saw them dancing to my
numbers and majority of them knowing the exact lyrics of my hit
number "Tunak tunak tun", I was
awestruck", says Daler. "One of my promoters recently
told me how popular my songs were in China and every year, the
demand for not only my music but Punjabi music is growing
rapidly in China," he says. Daler recalls how the Chinese
crowd started dancing to his popular numbers, demanding more.
"It was amazing to see them all lost to Punjabi tunes and bhangra
beats. When they demanded Tara rara.., we were
spell-bound. I took a one-minute water break. By then the crowd
was singing the song and clapping to its beat", Mehndi
said, adding that Punjabi music is popular across the world,
with foreigners dancing to foot-tapping numbers.